Posts Tagged landscaping

A Step-by-Step Guide to Starting Your Own Successful Lawn Care Business

Bidding Lawn Mowing Contracts for 2023
Lawn Care Contracts are Great Sources of Extra Money

Are you passionate about maintaining lush green lawns and have a knack for landscaping? Starting your own lawn care business can be a fulfilling and profitable venture. With proper planning and dedication, you can turn your passion for gardening and outdoor maintenance into a successful enterprise. We will guide you through the essential steps to launch your lawn care business and establish a strong foundation for growth.

Step 1: Research and Planning

Before diving into any business endeavor, it’s crucial to conduct thorough research. Identify your target market, assess the local demand for lawn care services, and evaluate the competition. Determine your business niche, such as residential or commercial lawn maintenance, landscaping design, or specialized services like organic lawn care. Create a comprehensive business plan that outlines your goals, services, pricing, marketing strategies, and financial projections.

Step 2: Legal Requirements and Business Structure

To establish your lawn care business, comply with all legal requirements. Register your business name, obtain the necessary permits and licenses, and fulfill any insurance obligations. Choose a suitable business structure, such as a sole proprietorship, partnership, or limited liability company (LLC), considering factors like liability protection and tax implications. Consult with a lawyer or accountant to ensure compliance with local regulations.

Step 3: Acquire the Right Lawn Care Equipment

Investing in quality equipment is vital for efficient lawn care operations. Essential tools may include lawn mowers, trimmers, edgers, blowers, and various gardening equipment. Consider the scale of your business and the types of services you intend to offer when determining the equipment you need. Opt for reliable brands that offer durability and performance. The exact type of lawn care equipment you need will depend on the specific types of jobs you will be performing. For example, if you are strictly doing small residential yards, a small push lawn mower might be the perfect first mower for you. However, if you are cutting multi-acre fields, a front-deck wide-area mower will be required to cut the grass in a time-effective manner. Always choose quality equipment; if you save $100 buying a cheap weed trimmer that breaks often, you will lose more money in down-time than you will save by buying cheap equipment.

Step 4: Build a Professional Business Image

Create a professional image to attract clients and build trust. Develop a memorable and visually appealing logo that reflects your business values. Design professional-looking business cards, flyers, and a website to showcase your services. Invest in branded uniforms or attire for you and your employees to present a consistent and cohesive appearance. Building a professional image will instill confidence in potential customers and set you apart from competitors. Additionally, project your professionalism by maintaining your lawn care equipment in perfect working condition and set aside time each day to clean your truck and lawn mowers. Your lawn care clients will willingly pay a premium if they feel you project a professional image.

Step 5: Marketing and Promotion

Effectively marketing your lawn care business is essential for attracting customers. Utilize both traditional and digital marketing strategies. Print advertisements in local newspapers, distribute flyers, and participate in community events to increase visibility. Establish an online presence through a well-designed website and leverage social media platforms to showcase your work, engage with customers, and solicit reviews. Encourage satisfied clients to provide testimonials, which can significantly boost your credibility.

Step 6: Providing Excellent Customer Service

Delivering exceptional customer service is key to the success of your lawn care business. Focus on reliability, professionalism, and exceeding customer expectations. Be punctual for appointments, communicate effectively, and actively listen to your clients’ needs. Provide accurate and transparent quotes, and strive to deliver high-quality work on time. Happy customers are more likely to become repeat clients and refer your services to others.

Step 7: Expand and Adapt

As your lawn care business grows, consider expanding your service offerings to meet customer demands. Explore additional services like leaf blowing, fertilization, pest control, irrigation system installation and maintenance, or landscape design. Stay updated on industry trends and new lawn maintenance techniques to ensure your skills and knowledge remain current. Continually assess and adjust your business strategies to stay competitive in the market.

Your Own Lawn Care Business

Starting your own lawn care business can be an exciting and rewarding venture. By following these essential steps, conducting thorough research, and providing exceptional service, you can establish a successful lawn care business. Remember to continually adapt to market demands, invest in professional branding and marketing, and prioritize customer satisfaction. With dedication, hard work, and a passion for outdoor maintenance, your lawn care business can flourish and become a trusted name in the industry.

We are passionate about professional lawn care and we are also passionate entrepreneurs. Our company has developed a Lawn Care Business Guidebook and Software designed to help you start your own Lawn Care Business. The Guidebook is newly updated for this year and we have kept the price low…one new lawn care customer will pay you back many times over.

Order the Lawn Care Guidebook directly through our website below:

Start A Lawn Care Business

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Springtime Lawn Care & Landscaping Contracts – Make More Money

Bidding Lawn Mowing Contracts for 2012

Lawn Care Contracts are Great Sources of Extra Money

Lawn Care is a Competitive Business.

Many lawn care companies suffer with underbids and lowball prices. They “THINK” they have to cut prices to get customers.

Have you ever thought about starting a lawn care company? You owe it to yourself to make the most money possible for your work. Successful lawn care companies learn bidding strategies that make the most money possible. They don’t underbid and they don’t cut their prices.

Lawn Care is a competitive business. If you want an advantage over your competition, you MUST possess strong pricing strategies. You will never make money by undercutting your completion’s prices. You will make great money by learning how to price your lawn care jobs effectively and profitably.

We have developed our guidebook and estimating software to educate other lawn care business owners. If everyone prices properly, we all make more money.

Our lawn care business package includes:

– Lawn Care Business Guidebook (90 Pages Jam Packed with real-world instructions, tips, tricks, and tutorials).
This is an actual book….NOT AN “E-BOOK.”
– Business Toolkit – Estimating Forms, Business Letters, Bid Proposals, Contract Examples.
– Tutorials – How-To do the work efficiently and professionally.
– Video Training – How-To’s that teach you how to operate a professional lawn care business.
– Estimating Software – Never underestimate a lawn again.

The program is on sale this month for only $53.95 (Includes Shipping). Click the “Add To Cart” button to order.





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Start a Lawn Care Business – Spring 2015

Spring lawn care 2014 Make Money

Spring Lawn Care

Start A Lawn Care Business with Spring Lawn Care. Make Money in 2015.

Though the nights are still chilly and there might be a couple more snowfalls in our near future, spring lawn care time is already here.

As the housing market continues to take hold and home owners are once again taking pride in their lawns and landscaping, 2015 looks to be a great year for anyone with their own lawn care business. There is a tremendous amount of money to be made in 2015 and if you want to make more money in your lawn care business, you better get started right away.

The most money in lawn care comes from smaller residential lawn care customers and larger year-long mowing contracts. We recommend a healthy mixture of these two types of clients. The most important thing, however, is getting your pricing right. If you underestimate your jobs, you are going to lose money. Our lawn care business guidebook and estimating software will help you price your jobs correctly and make more money than you could ever imagine with your own lawn care company.

So, don’t wait until it’s too late. Start today by getting residential customer and large scale lawn mowing contracts. We will show you how.

For more information on our lawn care business guidebook and estimating software, visit our main webpage below:





Start A Lawn Care Business Guidebook and Estimating Software.

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Landscapers: April is National Safe Digging Month

April is Safe Digging Month - Call 811

April is National Safe Digging Month

Damage prevention is a shared responsibility. As landscaping business owners, it is our responsibility to “know what’s below” before we dig. April is national safe digging month and all landscapers should take time to review our safe digging practices.

In our landscaping business, we have always employed a four step process in preventing damage to underground lines.

1) Visually Survey the Site: There are simple things to look for yourself. The area between a meter and a structure is always an area of concern. Obvious replanting of grass seed might disclose where a line has recently been laid. Areas of greener grass might tell you where a water or sewer line resides.

2) Ask the Property Owner: Property owners are a source of line location information and might be able to tell you general areas of concern. However, their knowledge of buried lines should not be fully relied upon. Property owners “forget” locations of lines or are completely unaware of lines that were buried before they owned the property.

3) Call 811: A call to 811 a few days before your digging project will allow your local utilities to visit the site and mark your lines. This is a free service and should be used for every digging job. Even if the property owner tells you that an area is safe to dig, you should call 811 to prevent potential damage to “forgotten” lines. Also, calling 811 should help reduce your liability if you do damage an unmarked line.

4) Dig Carefully: After everyone (including 811) has asserted that there are no lines in a work area, landscapers should use due diligence in their digging practices. Keep watch for leaking water from a sewer or water line. Keep your nose alert for the smell from a gas line. Listen for unusual sounds indicating you are digging into something other than dirt.

Safe digging is no joke. I once had a competitor in the landscaping business who lost over $2,500 in repair costs and downtime when he inflicted minor damage to a sewer line during a small landscaping project. Simply following the 4 steps above would have saved him.

If you are thinking about starting a lawn care and landscaping business, visit our main website to read about our professionally produced Lawn Care Business Training Course. It is packed with information and business tools that will help you start (and expand) your own lawn care business.

Start A Lawn Care Business
http://www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com





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Occupy Wall Street and Lawn Care Equipment (Occupy Lawn Care)

Leaf cleanup hampered by Occupy Wall Street

Leaf Cleanup Hampered by Occupy Wall Street

If you live in any major city in America, you probably have an “Occupy Wall Street” movement in your hometown. Whether you agree with the movement or not, there is something we can learn, as lawn care professionals, about the encampments that sprung up around America during October and November.

I visited our local courthouse this morning to survey leaf cleanup, lawn care, and landscaping needs that the city is experiencing. Though I had heard about our local “Occupy” movement, I had not realized the grounds of the courthouse had become so populated with protesters. Strewn across the grassy (and leaf covered) court house grounds are 30 to 40 tents acting as temporary housing for “Occupy” residents.

One of my biggest pet peeves is when a lawn care customer walks around the lawn when I am trying to cut the grass or blow the leaves. Lawn care equipment is dangerous enough without my having to be distracted by customers wandering all over their lawns while I am trying to work. Can you imagine mowing grass and blowing leaves while Occupiers strolling around the grounds holding signs and chanting protest songs? Can you imagine operating a 200 mph commercial backpack leaf blower while attempting to keep their tents and belongings from blowing off the grass and onto the street?

Occupy Lawn Care

Occupy Lawn Care

Anyway, my main point is that when you are performing your lawn care jobs for your customers, you need to keep your head about you and be cautious of the damage your lawn care equipment can inflict.

Do you want to learn more about starting your own lawn care company? Visit our main website and consider purchasing our professionally produced lawn care business guidebook, tutorial, and estimating software….and watch out for those protesters.





http://www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com
Occupy Wall Street and The Lawn Care Industry

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Southeast Storm Damage – Lawn Care Business Pricing

Storm Damage Cleanup

Storm damage cleanup means big money in the lawn care industry.

If you are anywhere within the Southeast portion of the United States this week, I am sure you have either experienced severe weather or seen it on television. The past several days have been intense with thunderstorms and very heavy winds (if not tornadoes). In fact, tornado sirens were sounding all over our area last night as storm after storm rolled through. If you or those you love have been affected by this severe weather, we hope you pulled through without property (or personal) damage.

It seems like we’ve written many times about severe weather in just the past few weeks.

Once again, as terrible as it is that many people have down trees and property damage, the potential for lawn care companies to make money right now seems to be greater than ever. Storm cleanup work is plentiful in storm damaged areas. If you have necessary tools, hauling capacity, man power, and a lawn care business already established in an area affected by the storms, you should consider adding storm cleanup services to your existing lawn care business services.

Do you know how to price your storm cleanup services?

One of the biggest problems new lawn care business owners face is the ability and confidence to price their lawn care services correctly. We fully understand how difficult it is to price your lawn care services when you are a new company owner. You don’t want to overbid your jobs and lose your customers. You also don’t want to underbid your services and risk losing money.

We faced this same problem when we started our lawn care company but we quickly developed pricing strategies so we could make the most money possible from all of our lawn care customers and still keep them happy with great services and terrific looking lawns.

If you want to learn how to properly price your lawn care services (including storm cleanup) we encourage you to visit our main webpage and learn about our Lawn Care Business Guidebook and Estimating Software Business Package. This program is a huge resource for new (and existing) lawn care business owners. It includes bidding tutorials and estimating software to help you start and operate a successful lawn care business.

Visit our homepage:

Make Money With Your Lawn Care Business
http://www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

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Landscaping Runoff Barrier & Proper Erosion Control

Landscape Runoff Barrier

Possible Landscaping Stormwater Runoff Violation

Your lawn care and landscaping company can be fined for improper barrier control of your landscaping jobs.

We received many inches of rain last week and I came across this improperly performed landscaping job. As you can see from the pictures, rain water is cascading down a hillside and mud is being washed into the street and into a stormwater drain.

I am not an expert on stormwater laws, but the company who performed this job is possibly in violation of a number of ordinances which address stormwater runoff, landscaping debris (including mud and gravel) deposited onto a city street, and muddy runoff into a stormwater drain.

A number of easy modifications to this landscaping job would have prevented this problem.





1) Heavy rain was forecast for the same day this 1-day job was to be completed. The company could have rescheduled this work until after the heavy rains.
2) A runoff barrier at the top of the landscaped area would have prevented water from gushing through the recently disturbed soil.
3) Though some straw was scattered above the ground, a heavier straw layer would have reduced the runoff problem.
4) A runoff barrier at the bottom of the landscaping area would have prevented mud from entering the roadway.
5) Bales of straw placed around the storm water drain would have prevented mud from entering the storm water system.



Landscaping runoff enters a stormwater drain.

Landscaping runoff enters a stormwater drain.

Not only did this company’s workers cause a big mess on the roadway, they also left their customer with improper landscaping. There are gullies in the ground where storm water washed through, the plants have bare roots exposed, and grass seed has been washed away.

Improper landscaping erosion control.

Improper landscaping erosion control.

A little bit of planning on this landscaping company’s part would have prevented a big and costly headache of possible storm water runoff violations. Stormwater violations are becoming increasingly scrutinized and fines are often very large.







Do you want to learn how to properly operate a lawn care and landscaping business?

We have developed a lawn care business toolkit including lawn care business manuals, an excellent software toolkit, and lawn care estimating calculators. To learn more about the program, visit our main lawn care business website:

How to start and operate a successful lawn care and landscaping business.
http://www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

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Start A Lawn Care Business – April, 2011

Start A Lawn Care Business - April, 2011

Start Your Own Lawn Care and Landscaping Business

Though springtime is already underway, right now is a perfect time to get started with your own lawn care business.  If you have ever thought about making money during the summertime mowing grass and doing small landscaping work for your lawn care customers, you should not delay starting your business.

April is the time that many homeowners and business owners hire a lawn  care person for the upcoming mowing season.  The grass is already growing and if you don’t get customers during the next several weeks, you will miss out on the rush of customers looking for lawn care professionals.

Proper price estimation is one of the main problems you will encounter when you are acquiring lawn care customers.  Many new guys do not know how much money to charge when they are giving estimates.  Lots of lawn care people think the only way to attract customers is to underbid (lowball) the other guys cutting grass.  Lowballing is a quick way to lose money.

Instead of lowballing, we teach you how to attract high quality lawn care customers and charge fees that will help you make the best money possible doing lawn care and cutting yards.

If you are starting your lawn care business this year, or if you are hoping to expand your existing lawn care business, proper pricing is an obstacle you need to overcome.  By getting good quality customers right now and charging the money you should be making you can dramatically increase your profit potential for the rest of the year.

Don’t lowball.  Learn how to charge the right amount of money with our bidding tutorial and lawn care business estimating software.  We have it on sale for the rest of the month for a price low enough that it should pay for itself in 1 or 2 lawns.

For more information, visit our main website homepage:

How to Start A Lawn Care Business
http://www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

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Google Earth’s Continued Relevance to the Lawn Care Industry

It’s hard to believe it’s been 3 1/2 years since I was interviewed by the Wall Street Journal for their report on the use of Google Earth by small business owners.  The reporter for the Wall Street Journal had read a brief report I wrote concerning my use of Google Earth in viewing and sizing lawn care jobs.

Though I will be the first to admit that a lawn care company should never solely use an aerial or satellite image to determine a price estimate on a lawn care or landscaping job, services such as Google Earth can give lawn care company owners a graphical overview of areas of land that need to be mowed or landscaped.

Last month, Google announced a new Google Labs product called Google Earth Engine.  Google Earth Engine gives users tools to analyze environmental changes that occur over time.  Understanding our environment helps all of us, as landscapers, become better stewards of the grounds we keep.

If you are interested in the ways technology can make you a more successful lawn care business owner, please subscribe to our blog and check out the Google Earth Engine at: http://earthengine.googlelabs.com/#intro

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Operating a Home-Based Lawn Care Business

by: http://www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

Although a great percentage of lawn care business owners around the country operate their businesses from their residences, you must pay heed to your local zoning regulations when attempting to operate a home-based lawn care / landscaping business.

We discuss this subject within the pages of our “Start A Lawn Care Business” course. There are definitely steps to take to assure your business operates without disrupting your neighbors. As many landscaping business owners have learned, however, as a business becomes too large or disruptive to the neighborhood, zoning laws will take precedence over a business owner’s entrepreneurial desires. Here is a report of a lawn care business owner facing a zoning challenge.

Operating your lawn care business legally requires understanding and obeying of all local zoning laws.

To learn more about how to properly operate your own lawn care business, read about our “Start A Lawn Care Business” course on our main website:
www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com
Start A Lawn Care Business

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